Swansea City's pursuit of World Cup runner-up Federico Fernandez has seemingly been handed a boost after Garry Monk’s centre-back target was left out of Napoli’s Champions League squad.

The Serie A giants face La Liga outfit Athletic Club Bilbao next week in the play-off for the Champions League group stages but Fernandez has been omitted from the 22-man squad submitted to Uefa despite being a defensive regular for Rafa Benitez.

It is not yet clear from either side whether a fee has been agreed and how much the final cost of the transfer will be, but a string of reports from Italy claimed a deal is all but done following Fernandez’s absence from last night’s friendly with PSG.

But even if a deal for Fernandez is concluded, it is doubtful he will be thrown straight into the Swansea defence for the opener at Old Trafford this weekend with Kyle Bartley likely to partner captain Ashley Williams at centre-back.

Naploi have included loan signing Michu in their squad for the Champions League while Benitez has also been linked with a move for Jonathan de Guzman, Swansea backing out of a permanent deal for the Netherlands midfielder after he opted to keep his options open despite the clock ticking down towards the start of the new campaign.